[freddybeach]

Someone told me there were fish dying all over the Miramichi. This came from a reliable resource. Not really good. I also was told by 2 people the water was 83. WOW that is warm. I am personally putting my rod away for a while. I guess I will hit the vise. Please be careful when playing and releasing the fish in these temperatures as they are extremely stressed already. Any reports from others?

 

[ryanw88]

Someone told me there were fish dying all over the Miramichi. This came from a reliable resource. Not really good. I also was told by 2 people the water was 83. WOW that is warm. I am personally putting my rod away for a while. I guess I will hit the vise. Please be careful when playing and releasing the fish in these temperatures as they are extremely stressed already. Any reports from others?

I was fishing big hole brook in doaktown on sunday and we ran into a local guy on the brook and he was telling us that there are hundreds dead already, he said that they might even have to close the river. Apparently there is a spot, so he says that you can look down and literally see hundreds dead jus lying there.So yes this is very serious and its a terrible thing

 

[bucksnducks]

I was fishing above Boiestown on the weekend...the water was terribly warm and we found a dead salmon and dead grilse...not good!

 

[Rej]

same here sunday i went up renous and saw a few dead grilse, pars and in quarryville same thing with suckers dead too

 

[threeD]

Yikes....not good!!
I like Freddy's idea of putting the rod down for a while.

 

[BentTwig]

The water temp at the MSC last week was 86F, which was the warmest ever recorded at the club, there have been dead fish found there as well, apparently officials were very close to closing the river before the weekend.

 

[Bonasa_U.]

What the hell are they waiting for - hot temps forecast all week........?????

 

[Paul]

Someone told me there were fish dying all over the Miramichi. This came from a reliable resource. Not really good. I also was told by 2 people the water was 83. WOW that is warm. I am personally putting my rod away for a while. I guess I will hit the vise. Please be careful when playing and releasing the fish in these temperatures as they are extremely stressed already. Any reports from others?

Ya, I decided to stop fishing too 9 days ago. The last time I went out the water was in the 70's and the long heat wave was only starting. We hear a lot of ideas on here on why the salmon numbers seem to be going down, but not often do we hear about global warming. We know the salmon are less active when the water gets into the 70's. We know they are struggling for their very survival when the water hits the 80's for a few days. What will happen when/if the water remains in the 70's and 80's or higher for a long length of time? If global warming is real, we are only starting to see its effects. Scares the %[email protected]# out of me to witness this, knowing the water temps will only trend warmer and warmer unless something reverses the global warming trend. Yet some people still think global warming doesn't even exist, lets hope these people are right.

 

[Displaced Tobiquer]

I am a proponent of C & R but as I have said before every degree the water temperature goes up the chance of survival for an Atlantic Salmon goes down. 90% survival rate in cold water, probably. 90% survival rate in 75 degree water, not bloody likely but if you want to believe that be my guest.

I had a long time guide from Hayesville tell me that for as long as he could remember you could walk in Salmon Brook in August and your legs would get numb from the cold. Over the last several years the water level has decreased and the brook is almost as warm as the main river by July. I wonder what could cause that??

 

[SalmonNut]

The past and present ways of the forestry companies don't help the situation.

The crazy thing about all of this is when it fianlly does rain we get super heated water draining into the rivers from the rocks and soil since there is a lack of shade and natural filter left in the woods.

Water temp actually rises right after a rain.

Scott

 

[lobsterman]

Just back after 12 days up there, july1-5 were ok, then it got too hot, water was in the 80s by 10-11am. There are dead fish everywhere....heard some stories of 1000s of fry and parr jammed up in some brooks. So bad that their backs were out of the water trying to get into the colder water. Northwest water in the crown reserve sections is still quite cool, 60 in the AM and 72 in the PM. Need rain or some colder air temps. We were suppose to stay for another week but cut it short due to the heat.

I have a few friends who have returned in the past few days and tell me the exact same thing, seen with their own eyes.

 

[zamboni-guy]

I made a quick trip up to the renous sunday nite I was at matchetts pool I did see some dead fish what I seen was to me a bass ?? are the bass in that river as well and are they affected by the temps as well ?

 

[nbdeerhunter]

well I had a 3 day trip planned for Blackville area fishing this week and after arriving early Monday morning and seeing how bad it was we decided to cut our trip short and pack up and head home. I seen 7 dead salmon in 2 different pools....imagine multiplying that out over the entire river system.

IMHO anyone fishing right now is doing alot more harm then good...put the rods away boys and wait for the water condtions to improve. I heard from a local that the chance of shutting the system down is very good and may happen this week. Not sure on his sources though

 

[Riverboy]

salmon nut,I agree with you about bad forestry practices having an effect on water temps.This is going on right under our noses and a lot of people,for whatever reasons,don't or can't see this as being a problem.Global warming? Maybe.But if we had good buffers and less clear-cuts,maybe it would lessen the impact of this relatively new problem[global warming].

 

[Bonasa_U.]

Zamboni - no there are no bass in the Renous (thank god) - you probably saw dead suckers - I saw a few of those as well as the salmon and grilse. I've never seen it this bad this early in the summer before - especially with half-decent water levels. Not high by any stretch, but I've seen way lower water without the temperature problems we're having now. Lack of cool groundwater from a much lower-than- normal snowpack this year is what got us here so early in the year. And, as others have said already - forestry practices have cut-over so much of the surrounding forest around the streams and rivers that the soil can't carry nearly the water it used to. So it runs off quickly instead of gradually, and as Salmon Nut said warmer rather than cool.

No quick fixes for this problem.

J.

 

[Well Hooked]

Hopefully the raise in water will cool off the river a bit. The hydro chart for Blackville shows the water level still rising quickly. The rain on Sunday was fairly cold in Boiestown so that should have helped.

Perhaps DFO should implement a policy where they automatically close the river after it gets above a certain temperature. I'd support that in a heart beat. Anytime it gets over the low 70's I always put away the salmon gear. Besides there's no sense in fishing salmon in water that warm because they won't take and even if they do you're likely to kill the fish even after only a short battle.

God invented bass for warm water fishing. Don't tick off the Big Guy, go fish bass!

 

[xray19]

Hopefully the raise in water will cool off the river a bit. The hydro chart for Blackville shows the water level still rising quickly. The rain on Sunday was fairly cold in Boiestown so that should have helped.

Perhaps DFO should implement a policy where they automatically close the river after it gets above a certain temperature. I'd support that in a heart beat. Anytime it gets over the low 70's I always put away the salmon gear. Besides there's no sense in fishing salmon in water that warm because they won't take and even if they do you're likely to kill the fish even after only a short battle.

God invented bass for warm water fishing. Don't tick off the Big Guy, go fish bass!

I think they automatically close rivers in Newfoundland when temperature reachs a certain level.

Ray

 

[lobsterman]

A few years ago there was serious consideration given to shutting 'er down every summer in mid-summer, but leaving the season open later in the fall. In other words, there'd be a split season for salmon, or two seasons.
I have no idea if this is still being considered, but it was very much hotly debated by DNR/DFO behind closed doors a few yaers back after several successive hot summers and during the height of the global warming debate.

 

[Tippet]

Fishinnut, I know this off topic, but I sent you an email the other day. Did you recieve?

 

[Stroover]

A few years ago there was serious consideration given to shutting 'er down every summer in mid-summer, but leaving the season open later in the fall. In other words, there'd be a split season for salmon, or two seasons.
I have no idea if this is still being considered, but it was very much hotly debated by DNR/DFO behind closed doors a few yaers back after several successive hot summers and during the height of the global warming debate.

I think they should shut'er down for a while. We were at the Oxbow today, and not a fish to be seen except for the odd dead one. It's really sad.